Sunday, September 19, 2010

ib - lw





looking at bergman's film thirst* through the eyes of the b&w documentation of the wittgenstein house
found in the books:
- bernhard leitner - the architecture of ludwig wittgenstein: a documentation - n.y.u. press - 1976
- paul wijdeveld - ludwig wittgenstein, architect - mit - 1994 (the pepin press - 2000)
- bernhard leitner - the wittgenstein house - princeton arch. press - 2000

*not a great film, but i liked much of the photography

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

ib








i see them mia
over there, under the dark, stormy sky.
they're all there
and death, the grim master, bids them dance.
he commands them to hold hands
and dance in a long line.
the stern master leads the way with his scythe and hourglass.
but skat dangles at the end with his lyre.
they dance away from the dawn
in a solemn dance,
away to the dark country,
while the rain runs down their faces
and washes away their salty tears.

the seventh seal


*********


black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening
we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night
we drink and we drink
we shovel a grave in the air there you won't lie too cramped
a man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes
he writes when it grows dark to deutschland your golden hair marguerite
he writes it and steps out of doors and the stars are all sparkling
he whistles his hounds to come close
he whistles his jews into rows has them shovel a grave in the ground
he orders us strike up and play for the dance

black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at morning and midday we drink you at evening
we drink and we drink
a man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes
he writes when it grows dark to deutschland your golden hair margeurite
your ashen hair shulamith we shovel a grave in the air there you won't lie too cramped
he shouts jab this earth deeper you lot there you others sing up and play
he grabs for the rod in his belt he swings it his eyes are blue
jab your spades deeper you lot there you others play on for the dancing

black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at midday and morning we drink you at evening
we drink and we drink
a man lives in the house your goldenes haar margeurite
your aschenes haar shulamith he plays with his vipers
he shouts play death more sweetly death is a master from deutschland
he shouts scrape your strings darker you'll rise then in smoke to the sky
you'll have a grave then in the clouds there you won't lie too cramped

black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at midday death is a master aus deutschland
we drink you at evening and morning we drink and we drink
this death is ein meister aus deutschland his eye it is blue
he shoots you with shot made of lead shoots you level and true
a man lives in the house your goldenes haar margarete
he looses his hounds on us grants us a grave in the air
he plays with his vipers and daydreams
der tod is ein meister aus deutschland
dein goldenes haar margarete
dein aschenes haar shulamith

death fugue

Saturday, August 21, 2010

drawing sounds exploding bells...

animal sounds, made visible by bell's translator


frequency modulation series


print from a reader recorder tape


3/4 inch stick of pentolite exploding


electron diffraction record


a school of herring passing under a brown moon
max ernst - 1965


ocean, drawing - piet mondrian - 1909


second diagram of evolution (notebook b)
charles darwin - 1837


detail from the original diagram of evolution
origin of the species
charles darwin - ca. 1857



first five images in series - the new landscape in art and science - györgy kepes - 1956

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

the only sun / light in japanese architecture / lethe catastrophe point












black leader looking like an early sun photo
& window/light found in yasujirô ozu's the only son - 1936

...and i realized then that only in dim half-light is the true beauty of japanese lacquerware revealed... but in the still dimmer light of the candlestand, as i gazed at the trays and bowls standing in the shadows cast by that flickering point of flame, i discovered in the gloss of this lacquerware a depth and richness like that of a still, dark pond, a beauty i had not before seen.... to discover beauty in shadows, ultimately to guide shadows towards beauty's ends... and so it has come to be that the beauty of a japanese room depends on a variation of shadows, heavy shadows against light shadows - it has nothing else...
from jun'ichirō tanizaki's in praise of shadows

lethe:
[l. lēthē, a use of gr. ληθη forgetfulness, f. ληθ,
ablaut-var. of λαθ, root of λανθαυεσθας to forget.
in gr. ληθη is not the name of the river, though it occurs
as a personification; the river is ληθης 'water of lethe'].
1. gr. myth. a river in hades, the water of which produced,
in those who drank it, forgetfullnes of the past. hence,
the 'waters of oblivion', or forgetfullness of the past.
¶2. [?influenced by l. lēt(h)um.] death. rare.
3. atrib. and comb., as lethe-flood, lake, wharf; lethe-wards adv.
(oed definition)

catastrophe point #7 & #8 regular edition now available *

Sunday, July 18, 2010

lethe catastrophe point #7 & #8 special edition available

003ltd now available in an edition of 100 from invisible birds

includes 2 cds housed in a letterpress sleeve, a handmade booklet of kuwayama kiyoharu's photography, a numbering card with super 8 film strips provided by kuwayama, and liner notes by giancarlo toniutti.
all enclosed in fabric interlining in a hand-made box.
letterpress printing by ben owen *






also available as combo with lethe's catastrophe point #6
(see site for more info *)

Monday, July 12, 2010

carl gustav carus - morning fog - 1825

carl gustav carus - a gondola on the elbe near dresden - 1827

carl gustav carus - die frau auf dem söller - 1824

carl gustav carus - cemetery on mount oybin - 1828

philipp otto runge

some lesser known germans

Friday, July 2, 2010

street scene










urban imagery seen through the eyes of ernie gehr
and chantal akerman
in aki kaurismäki's shadows in paradise - 1986